Related
Can anyone get their hands on the TouchFLO UI CAB so we can give it a try on the Athena? The functionality was released on the HTC Touch in the UK. Maybe someone can get the CAB off of the HTC Touch and we can give it a try on our Athenas.
http://www.htctouch.com
Check out the TouchFLO try me link at the bottom of the page.
ltxda said:
Can anyone get their hands on the TouchFLO UI CAB so we can give it a try on the Athena? The functionality was released on the HTC Touch in the UK. Maybe someone can get the CAB off of the HTC Touch and we can give it a try on our Athenas.
http://www.htctouch.com
Check out the TouchFLO try me link at the bottom of the page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that is nice. Especially if it worked in landscape on the Athena.
Indeed. Very interesting.
I'll be looking for it too.
HTC's Touch is QVGA....
From what I've read of the specs, the HTC Touch is a QVGA device without 3G!
If the Cube Touch software is anything like the QVGA HTC Audio Manager I've seen, it will look pathetic on the Athena.
IMHO, it needs to be in a VGA device before it's worth considering installing it to the Athena and preferably a device with similar if not same hardware and software features, in order for all things to be accessible through it's interface.
Having said all that, I read somewhere recently that the Advantage comes with HTC Audio Manager (supposedly no better or worse than WMplayer), but at least natively VGA.
The Touch GUI looks great, but I know one thing for sure, if it lives up to the hype and actually allows better and more intuitive navigation through finger-touch, you can bet your bottom dollar that some big software developers like Spb will be on the bandwagon to produce an even better variant of it.
Great for the rest of the PPC community, whether VGA or QVGA.
May be it has something to do with screen build quality as well....I have a feeling that even though if we install all the interface cabs for "multi touch input method", still Athena screen will not be able to support it.
Does it has anything to do with screen build quality?
few reviews on HTC touch:
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/06/05/htc-touch-hands-on/
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_touch_with_touchflo_technology-news-274.php
mackaby007 said:
From what I've read of the specs, the HTC Touch is a QVGA device without 3G!
If the Cube Touch software is anything like the QVGA HTC Audio Manager I've seen, it will look pathetic on the Athena.
IMHO, it needs to be in a VGA device before it's worth considering installing it to the Athena and preferably a device with similar if not same hardware and software features, in order for all things to be accessible through it's interface.
Having said all that, I read somewhere recently that the Advantage comes with HTC Audio Manager (supposedly no better or worse than WMplayer), but at least natively VGA.
The Touch GUI looks great, but I know one thing for sure, if it lives up to the hype and actually allows better and more intuitive navigation through finger-touch, you can bet your bottom dollar that some big software developers like Spb will be on the bandwagon to produce an even better variant of it.
Great for the rest of the PPC community, whether VGA or QVGA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to give it a try. I see your points but am curious about it working and potentially enhancing the UI. From the demo it looked like a nice new toy to have. I'm thinking it's similar to what they did with the iPhone theme where you had the slider lock, etc. If you can at least swap screens and make custom menus using TouchFLO, that would be great. As for the phone it was released on...shame on HTC for putting something like this on such an inferior device ;-)
Nara-e-Mastana said:
May be it has something to do with screen build quality as well....I have a feeling that even though if we install all the interface cabs for "multi touch input method", still Athena screen will not be able to support it.
Does it has anything to do with screen build quality?
few reviews on HTC touch:
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/06/05/htc-touch-hands-on/
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_touch_with_touchflo_technology-news-274.php
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so but I could be wrong. For example, the iPhone theme uses slider bars, etc and can be loaded onto the Athena, with a little help of third party software. I hope someone posts the CAB so I can test it out. I'll load it and report my findings if someone can get it.
Nara-e-Mastana said:
May be it has something to do with screen build quality as well....I have a feeling that even though if we install all the interface cabs for "multi touch input method", still Athena screen will not be able to support it.
Does it has anything to do with screen build quality?
few reviews on HTC touch:
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/06/05/htc-touch-hands-on/
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_touch_with_touchflo_technology-news-274.php
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It isn't multi touch.
Or have I missed something?
ltxda said:
I want to give it a try. I see your points but am curious about it working and potentially enhancing the UI. From the demo it looked like a nice new toy to have. I'm thinking it's similar to what they did with the iPhone theme where you had the slider lock, etc. If you can at least swap screens and make custom menus using TouchFLO, that would be great. As for the phone it was released on...shame on HTC for putting something like this on such an inferior device ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotta agree with you ltxda. I still want to try it too.
i think it would be great. i know there are other softwares that use this interface. so i think ppc is capable but its all about the software limitation.
If were lucky, alan from the HTC Touch post can investigate this for us as he has just acquired such a device.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=1301886&posted=1#post1301886
mackaby007 said:
If were lucky, alan from the HTC Touch post can investigate this for us as he has just acquired such a device.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=1301886&posted=1#post1301886
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's awesome! Great thinking mackaby007! Can't wait for him to reply and maybe send us a CAB or two.
Bad news so far...
This is what Paul of Modaco has reported so far;
"Random Touch trivia after spending some time today 'digging around'...
- The screen has it’s own new driver version (touch.dll). This means the TouchFLO interface won’t port to other devices. In fact, I tried it - just to be sure - by installing the driver on my Trinity, and the touchscreen stopped working ohmy.gif
- The fancy today screen plugin is just that, and would be easy for HTC to drop onto any device.
- Out of the box I feel the sensitivity of the screen is a little lacking (it occasionally misses clicks or taps from my finger or stylus), however this seems to be configurable in the registry – watch this space
- The Touch has a new version of HTC’s ‘Task Manager’ (close button) application, a new Camera application, and a very nifty network wizard for setting up GPRS settings. These settings are held on the device in a passworded ZIP file!
- NO PHONE PAD T9 ON THE TOUCH! What the hell were they thinking? I had a good moan to our HTC about it, and demo’d what Phone Pad would be like on the Touch... wink.gif
- When you boot the device, it does the email config (you know, the one that connects to the server to get settings?) and then the config of the data connection. Duh! Wrong order!
- All the IR drivers etc. are in ROM despite their being no IR port!
- The fancy UI takes up a lot of memory
- Audio Manager, Comm Manager and the Phone Dialler are all grey-skinned to match the homescreen UI. It looks real nice biggrin.gif
smile.gif
P"
Not looking good at the mo, but let's not give up hope.
mackaby007 said:
This is what Paul of Modaco has reported so far;
"Random Touch trivia after spending some time today 'digging around'...
- The screen has it’s own new driver version (touch.dll). This means the TouchFLO interface won’t port to other devices. In fact, I tried it - just to be sure - by installing the driver on my Trinity, and the touchscreen stopped working ohmy.gif
- The fancy today screen plugin is just that, and would be easy for HTC to drop onto any device.
- Out of the box I feel the sensitivity of the screen is a little lacking (it occasionally misses clicks or taps from my finger or stylus), however this seems to be configurable in the registry – watch this space
- The Touch has a new version of HTC’s ‘Task Manager’ (close button) application, a new Camera application, and a very nifty network wizard for setting up GPRS settings. These settings are held on the device in a passworded ZIP file!
- NO PHONE PAD T9 ON THE TOUCH! What the hell were they thinking? I had a good moan to our HTC about it, and demo’d what Phone Pad would be like on the Touch... wink.gif
- When you boot the device, it does the email config (you know, the one that connects to the server to get settings?) and then the config of the data connection. Duh! Wrong order!
- All the IR drivers etc. are in ROM despite their being no IR port!
- The fancy UI takes up a lot of memory
- Audio Manager, Comm Manager and the Phone Dialler are all grey-skinned to match the homescreen UI. It looks real nice biggrin.gif
smile.gif
P"
Not looking good at the mo, but let's not give up hope.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If he wants, have him give us the passworded ZIP file. I'll try to crack it.
I guess we'll have to have someone take a look at the dll mentioned above and see what can be done about that...if there is enough interest.
Maybe we could at least have the today plugin? That looks pretty sweet.
Touch.DLL
I Have a T-Mobile Wing, and I have the Touch.dll file in \Windows . . . (Touch.dll 26.9k 3/21/07 21:21.04)
It came that way, does that mean that TouchFlo may work on my device?
2 things i do not like:
mackaby007 said:
- Out of the box I feel the sensitivity of the screen is a little lacking (it occasionally misses clicks or taps from my finger or stylus), however this seems to be configurable in the registry – watch this space
- The fancy UI takes up a lot of memory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pretty dissapointing but to be expected i guess.
Just grab yourself Wisbar, and the graphics file and youll be 2/3rds the way home and hosed to recreating the Interface.
Osir1s said:
Just grab yourself Wisbar, and the graphics file and youll be 2/3rds the way home and hosed to recreating the Interface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well see, we're not trying to recreate the interface, we're trying to get the actual app from the actual source and see if it works. Please try to contribute to the thread instead of making ambiguous statements!
WarezAppz said:
I Have a T-Mobile Wing, and I have the Touch.dll file in \Windows . . . (Touch.dll 26.9k 3/21/07 21:21.04)
It came that way, does that mean that TouchFlo may work on my device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just maybe, you never know. I can't remember which post I read, but I do recall it mentioning that the the screen is a new techology and another report that that would not make it a standard WM6 device (I remember now, a discussion at 4winmobile.com about the HTC Touch etc..). Anyway, that makes sense + fellow member neilm also went on to mention that a lot of current WM5 & WM6 wouldn't work on it as it wasn't written with this type of multi-touch screen in mind.
Fair point I think and follows the logik that HTC haven't built a WM6 device that is incompatible with software written for its O/S. No it's more likely that that .dll is all the software needed to make that plug-in (shell or whatever) interface with any WM touch screen.
So, WarezApps, if you have the .dll by default, it could mean that your device is capable of running the plug-in with the screen driver you seem to have, as they may have considered selling it as a default app within your device, but possibly recognized the potential to knock out another new device (for more money), which will appeal to some people just for this particular touch interface!
I think it will work with that Touch.dll screen driver.
Can you upload your file for us all to share and examine.
Anyway bottom line: I think it's all about transferable software now and just want to try it for myself to see.
hi everybody.
as i found much cool apps for my former windows mobile device here, i thought there is maybe someone who can help me.
i will get a e-ten x800 device soon. with vga resolution.
now i'm asking myself if i can use the htc apps from here at this device too.
i use the retouched dialer skin and die htc action screen and the htc homeplugin at my old qvga device. can i use this skins/apps at vga resolution. will the display be automatically reszied to vga resolution. or will be the dialer for example be smaller ? another question is, the eten x800 is a device with videocall function too. it comes with windows mobile 6. will be there a special dialer with videocall function or will there be the normal dialer i know from windows mobile 6. so i can use the retouched dialer instead?
would be very nice if someone can help me . i really would like to get my old interface with my skins and apps on this new vga device.
greetings
rockster
pushing up
My question is simple...
I have been using QVGA screen devices for a long time and I have invested a good ammount on softwares that display well on QVGA screens.
Now I'm thinking of doing an upgrade and I have pinpointed the HD as my next device, but since I have invested a lot money on softwares, I don't want to upgrade to a new phone and find all these softwares unusable on a WVGA screen.
Will the programs designed for QVGA display properly on a WVGA screen?
My common sense tells me that no, it won't but I have read that it will display without problems.
Any thoughts anyone?
where did you read that it will display with no problems?
Very few apps are made for WVGA and I cannot image that HTC lets this be a show stopper, since it will take years and years before WVGA is as standard as QVGA is.
The same goes for VGA though, which is also just catching on in mainstream, yet my VGA Diamond has no problems running anything whatsoever. Some QVGA apps just get blown up to fit the screen and run just like on a QVGA screen, yet I wonder how this would work when the aspect ratio is no longer 4:3 (as with QVGA, HVGA and VGA) but instead 16:9 (WVGA). Stretching is ugly so with apps that need to maintain the aspect ratio (anything other than apps that can resize infinitely like Operah, Windows Mobile etc) we would likely see black boxes on top of and below the app.
Copy pasted one of my own old posts from another topic, which had the same question but for VGA on the Raphael.
WM has a so-called compatibility mode. If an app is not specifically compiled to tell WM it knows about resolution and DPI settings, WM presents your device to the program as 240x320 QVGA. This way, most QVGA apps simply run on VGA. (And I can verify that at least on the Diamond, most apps just work). WM then simply scales the application to fill the screen. (One way to notice if this is happening with an app is that you can see the text is smooth and looks high-res, except on the menu bar at the bottom)
Actually that was quite a nice move of MS. However, there is a bug with compatibility mode and 320x320 devices (like the Treo800w) that prevents some apps from running. Luckily, the Raphael is not one of those devices.
However, of course, some apps do tell WM they know about resolution and DPI, but aren't made to support 480x640 devices like the Axim v51, Diamond and Raphael, those apps may look weird (though they don't seem to be numerous), but generally still work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I recall correctly, however, non-resolution/dpi-aware applications ran on odd resolutions like WVGA for the Touch HD are still represented as 320x240, and will be stretched to use the entire screen (in other words: fugly). I know this is the case for 320x320, and I think it would be a safe bet to assume the same for 480x800.
For applications that are resolution/dpi-aware, it all depends on how the developers did it. Black border at the bottom and top, correctly scaled, etc, it's all possible and completely up to how the developer handled this in their code.
Chainfire
Thanks for the answer.
That was very well explained.
What I read that it won't have problems was perhaps with the fact that WM will stretch the program to fit the screen, but it wasn't as well explained as your post.
So now I know that it's possible that half of my programs will be stretched on the screen and it will look crappy, the other half will have black borders around...
WVGA Themes
I just wonder if all the (beautiful) themes created for Diamond will be correctly displayed with the Touch HD ?
As I'm creating my own (for Diamond) and first one, I hope I can use it with the HD WVGA screen.
Thanx for informations.
WVGA has the same aspect ratio of the WQVGA
WVGA 480x800 (Touch HD, Sony XPERIA)
WQVGA 240x400 (Samsung Omnia)
Being an owner of a Samsung Omnia I found out that there are very few software that wont run on non a standard QVGA resolution.
Good thing about it is that most important and recently updated software do take into consideration the modern variable display sizes and aspect ratios.
This is a promising trend, software companies tend to release fixes/upgrades for their software for these new resolutions
So I wouldnt worry so much!
ydg said:
I just wonder if all the (beautiful) themes created for Diamond will be correctly displayed with the Touch HD ?
As I'm creating my own (for Diamond) and first one, I hope I can use it with the HD WVGA screen.
Thanx for informations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recently installed Manilla2d on the omnia, the themes have to be modified for the omnias resolution 240x400 images, backgrounds, icon possitions etc, therefore no theme for diamond will be directly usable with the touch hd, there will have to be modifications on them to work
mkMoSs said:
I recently installed Manilla2d on the omnia, the themes have to be modified for the omnias resolution 240x400 images, backgrounds, icon possitions etc, therefore no theme for diamond will be directly usable with the touch hd, there will have to be modifications on them to work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With this Forum and community and the other WVGA topphone Xperia, these forums will be soon filled with people working on these modifications....
I am not worried at all about this
You can try Force high resolution. You can find it at pocketpcfreeware.com.
Got my Xperia on Friday. I am amazed, it is easily the best hardware on Winmo. I have a Touch Pro also and have had every other previous decent windows mobile phone you can shake a stick at.
First thoughts.
It is great to get away from Touchflo as I didnt really like that but I am sorry, SE your panels are sh/*e up to now and are not fit for purpose. Unlike some commentators I think the concept is great but it is so buggy it is unbelievable. On certain panels once you open them you got a desktop that has delays of 30 seconds to a minute when you click on items. How can something like that leave the factory.
However, if you steer clear of the panels (or at least a couple of them) the hardware is truly amazing and really sleek. Way better than the sloppy touch pro. It feels like it is made of metal (it is of course), the screen is fantastic.
The keyboard is not as good as the one on the touch pro but it is only slightly different and I am quickly adjusting to it.
I have to say that I am delighted with it (bar the panels) but I reckon there is more to come once they release some updates (or someone else does a rom for it).
Has anyone else got problems with the panels like this?
My two worst ones are the silver home screen which goes really slow and the multimedia one that freezes altogether.
stuartforrest said:
Got my Xperia on Friday. I am amazed, it is easily the best hardware on Winmo. I have a Touch Pro also and have had every other previous decent windows mobile phone you can shake a stick at.
First thoughts.
It is great to get away from Touchflo as I didnt really like that but I am sorry, SE your panels are sh/*e up to now and are not fit for purpose. Unlike some commentators I think the concept is great but it is so buggy it is unbelievable. On certain panels once you open them you got a desktop that has delays of 30 seconds to a minute when you click on items. How can something like that leave the factory.
However, if you steer clear of the panels (or at least a couple of them) the hardware is truly amazing and really sleek. Way better than the sloppy touch pro. It feels like it is made of metal (it is of course), the screen is fantastic.
The keyboard is not as good as the one on the touch pro but it is only slightly different and I am quickly adjusting to it.
I have to say that I am delighted with it (bar the panels) but I reckon there is more to come once they release some updates (or someone else does a rom for it).
Has anyone else got problems with the panels like this?
My two worst ones are the silver home screen which goes really slow and the multimedia one that freezes altogether.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The multimedia panel works nice for me without hickups, but Sony Ericsson Panel 1 and 2 are slow and unusable. But I don´t use the panels often, the phone is so nice even without the panel concept
Hi stuartforrest.
I ve one question for you. . Most of the Touch Pro users (included me) suffer of GPS lag (Not time to fix but arrow 3 or 4 seconds behind you). Could you tell us your experience with Xperia and GPS lag issue?
Thanks
Dani
danielherrero said:
Hi stuartforrest.
I ve one question for you. . Most of the Touch Pro users (included me) suffer of GPS lag (Not time to fix but arrow 3 or 4 seconds behind you). Could you tell us your experience with Xperia and GPS lag issue?
Thanks
Dani
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is already discussed here.
Please do not comment on the GPS in this thread otherwise the information gets lost.
Sorry. As you can see I asked in that thread too and only one answer and the owner hadnt a touch Pro so he couldnt compare. I wanted to know the opinion of a user who owned both phones. I dont really think my question is out of topic
why do you think the keyboard is better on the touch pro?
looks like the xperia would be easier to use with the spacing between keys which should them easier to miss. though it is lacking the extra row. do you find the loss of that row worth the added benefit of smaller size and better accuracy?
i have no idea since i have neither of the phones yet.
I suggest trying the Spb Mobile Shell panel.
I like it.
Working to get a proper install of TCPMP with decent plugins to play all media.
Currently flac, wmv, 3gp and avi, all play decently.
mp4 on the other hand does not.
Luckily the built-in WMP plays mp4 just fine.
I have been using my Xperia X1 for over two weeks now and I have to agree with stuartforrest, the panel function sucks. It is a really useless function.
easycure1974 said:
The multimedia panel works nice for me without hickups, but Sony Ericsson Panel 1 and 2 are slow and unusable. But I don´t use the panels often, the phone is so nice even without the panel concept
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, try this...
Say you want to listen to some music, start the multimedia panel and start playing the music that you want. Then why not look up the artist on google, lets go to the google panel. Press the X panel button, what the .... the music stops. So with the panels you can only do one thing at the time.
It is much more practical to use Spb Mobile Shell, I only miss a quick way to turn WLAN on and off.
Why do people call this phone Sony xperia X1 on this forum when the real name is Sony Ericsson Xperia X1? I would say that the "Ericsson part" has the biggest influence on design and development so I would rather call it Ericsson Xperia X1 then Sony Xperia X1.
SCtud said:
why do you think the keyboard is better on the touch pro?
looks like the xperia would be easier to use with the spacing between keys which should them easier to miss. though it is lacking the extra row. do you find the loss of that row worth the added benefit of smaller size and better accuracy?
i have no idea since i have neither of the phones yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try to explain..
The keyboard on Xperia is not good. The buttons are small and difficult to feel and when pressed the respons is bad. So typing is difficult, but I'm getting better on it every day..
My pevious phone was the Hermes whitch has a much better keyboard with larger keys.
Press the X panel button, what the .... the music stops. So with the panels you can only do one thing at the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed that too since the previews, that sucks so badly; but the important question is, will it also stop if you're using 3rd party music player like coreplayer? if so then it IS BEYOND HORRIBLE!
are you able to turn off the panels? like you can shut off touchflo? i'd rather use my mobile without easier, i think...
eric b
According to SE is it not possible to turn panels off.
No it is prefectly viable to use all third party software. In fact I would say it is much easier to do this than on the Touch Pro or Diamond where you have to get inot hacking touch flo 3d to launch a different calendar app etc.
The SE Xperia X1 is easily the best piece of hardware ever on WinMo. Why HTC didnt make their own device as good as they made this third party one I dont know.
The keyboard is not as brilliant as the T/Pro but it is still damn good and you do get more used to it.
I just need to learn how to reprogam the utterly sh*+e panels button to launch SPB mobile shell and I will be happy.
I showed a friend of mine how, on my Fuze, I'm able to flick through my emails in Outlook and he was wondering if there was a similar app for his Palm Pro (Sprint).
Whenever I do a search for 'TouchFlo' on the forum, I usually end up with threads about M2D or M3D, which isn't what I'm looking for. Is there any way to add the TouchFLO from the Fuze/Raphael to the Treo Pro? If not, does anyone know if FTouchFLO provides the same functionality as HTC's TF?
I am almost certian Manilla is a code name from the developers for touchflo. As for the M2D(Manilla 2d) is touchFlo 2d and M3D(Manilla 3D) is touchflo 3D. So thats the case. Go and check youtube videos of M2D or M3D and see if thats what your looking for. But like you said on your Fuze (Touch Pro) then it was M3D which is not working for our treo pro
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=334965
You want this! I run it on my wife's TreoPro and it is flawless. The alphas are free, the final versions are now a paid app but include some other stuff along with being a bit more stable. Lighweight and dependable.
Brian:
I'm pretty sure Manilla and TouchFlo are different things. Manilla (2D and 3D) is just a user interface. I'm talking about the underlying gesture recognizer that comes on the Fuze. I call it TouchFLO because that is the entry in the control panel. The wiki says the name 'TouchFLO' is just HTC's branding, but it's also the finger interface that other devices lack.
furry:
I was looking at FTouchFLO, but wasn't sure it did everything my friend liked that HTC's TouchFLO does. On your wife's Treo, when you're in Outlook reading an email, can you flick the screen left for the next message and right for the previous?
Me and Zbop were talking about porting Touch Flo 3D to work on the Treo Pro.
He would patch the binaries to work under 320x320 and I would resize the graphic files and repoistion everything.
I'd have to get in contact with him to see if we can get this going or not.
I for sure would do it.
SO what is available for the Pro as of right now? Just TouchFLO 2D? How does it differ from TouchFLO 3D? I am just using SPB Mobile Shell 3 and find it a vast improvement over the standard Today screen crap. The interface is much sexier and much more condusive to fingering.
It is what it says. Its basically Touch Flo 2D except with 3D graphics and more eye candy.
Though it has more features.
My understanding about M3D vs. M2D is just aesthetics through hardware acceleration. For example, in M2D, the photo browsing tab lets you flick through your photos. M3D does the same, with the added effect of the photo actually sliding off the screen and the next taking its place. Just eye candy. (That, and I think M2D doesn't support VGA resolution as cleanly as M3D.)
You'll notice I'm referring to Manilla 2D and 3D and NOT TouchFLO. The HTC TouchFLO program I started this tread about is the underlying app that recognizes finger gestures for Manilla as well as adding 'flick-scroll' support to apps that don't internally support it (such as Total Commander or Outlook).
The main feature I'm looking for is specifically used in Outlook. It allows you to go to the next email by flicking the screen to the left or the previous to the right. It also allows you to flick to different email accounts if you're looking at the summary screen.
The program that you're looking for to have the finger scrolling option is called:
FtouchSL. I tried version 2.10 and it works just awesome on the Treo Pro GSM.
All you have to do is disable it in apps that don't like it. I'd HIGHLY recommend this proggie. Good luck!
Web Page
http://www.ftouchsl.com/
I don't see why you'd want/need the finger-flicking on devices that have a useable D-pad.
For a touch-only device, yes you need it, and it helps the screen to be the entire user interface.
The Treo Pro has buttons. If you don't want to use them, I suggest buying something with a bigger screen.